Rate Article:

Iraq's central bank will be allowed to open a deposit with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a move that will earn it millions of dollars in interest income, a senior U.S. Treasury official has recently.

John Taylor, Undersecretary of the Treasury, said President George W. Bush had issued an executive order late last year granting Iraq the right to open the account. "This enables the central bank to earn income on its reserves, of approximately US$5-billion, that will be over US$100-million a year. That can be used to improve infrastructure," Mr. Taylor told a news conference in Baghdad.